RED LIGHT SPECIAL

CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by TLC, released on November 15, 1994 in North America. CrazySexyCool peaked at three on the Billboard 200 and at two on the Billboard Top R&B Albums Chart, spawned four top-five singles on the Billboard Hot 100, two of which was top charters, and won the group two Grammy Awards. It also became the group’s biggest-selling album to date selling 15 million copies worldwide.

The album was certified diamond, making TLC the first female group in history to ever be awarded diamond status by the RIAA. In 2003, the album was ranked number 377 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

“Creep” topped the U.S. Hot 100 for four weeks, which made it one of the biggest singles of the 1990s and third most successful Hot 100 Single of 1995, according to Billboard’s Year End Charts. It sold over a million copies in the U.S., reaching number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

MAZE

BELLO

Charles Devoe
Magazine: V Magazine, Summer 2009
Photographer: Mario Testino

PURE GOLD

Naomi Campbell
Magazine: Vogue Japan, June 2011
Photographer: Inez & Vinoodh

LIKE A GEISHA

Madonna
Magazine: Harper’s Bazaar, February 1999
Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier

BAILA

“Waiting for Tonight” is a song by Jennifer Lopez from her debut album, On the 6 (1999), and the song became the third single from the album and also the most famous version of the song so far, being considered one of Lopez’s signature songs. Released in 1999, the single peaked at number eight in the U.S., becoming Lopez’s second top ten single and became a millennium hit; it also peaked at number five in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the track earned Lopez a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

RATED KATE

Kate Moss
Magazine: Vogue Paris, May 2011
Photographer: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

ANIMAL INSTINCT

Dolce and Gabbana Animalier Eyewear Spring/Summer 2011
Model: Naomi Campbell
Photographer: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

SILKY SMOOTH

Shiseido
Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Day Cream SPF 15 PA++ ($52.00, shiseido.com)

PRODUCT 101: An age-defying daytime moisturizer that helps protect skin from damage caused by external aging factors such as UV rays. This product provides skin with an intensive emulsion of hydration and powerful antiaging ingredients. It addresses lines and wrinkles before they become more serious while promoting a skin texture that’s silky smooth. Apply this cream daily to shield skin against environmental aggressors and a broad spectrum of UVA and UVB radiation.

What else you need to know:
Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 is a complete line of skincare products that targets every step of wrinkle formation. Each product contains a breakthrough ingredient, mukurossi extract, which directly inhibits the activity of a wrinkle-triggering enzyme. Skin is made resistant to future signs of aging while existing wrinkles are visibly improved.

I FEEL IT, IT’S COMING

The video, directed by Mark Romanek, was filmed from May 16–19, 1993 at a Santa Monica Airport hangar in Santa Monica, California. Romanek and Madonna set the video to look like Ryuichi Sakamoto was directing it, giving it a backstage feel. It was entirely shot in black and white and then digitally colored with the blue tones. The video begins with Madonna in a studio, lying on a sofa with headphones on her ears composing a song, following a sequence in which she sings in front of a microphone, which is alternated with those of her receiving instructions from the director (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto). She then appears in front of a different background and different sets of lights representing the sky. The video ends with an air view of open umbrellas covering the entire floor. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. On Slant Magazine’s “100 Greatest Music Videos” list, it was ranked #70.

MANDARIN CRUSH

Nars Cosmetics
Wonder Lip Gloss, ($24.00, narscosmetics.com)
PRODUCT 101: This shiny, sheer mandarin orange lip gloss is laced with pink and gold shimmer for a pop of citrusy color. Wear it alone or over other lip colors for a shinier look with added depth.

Nars Cosmetics
Bolero Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, ($24.00, narscosmetics.com)
PRODUCT 101: Grab your castanets. This pink cantaloupe, velvet matte lip pencil is as subtly suggestive as the seductive, slow-tempo Latin music after which it’s named.

CATWOMAN

Angelina Jolie
Magazine: Vanity Fair, August 2010
Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier

MAGNIFIQUE

Gisele Bundchen
Magazine: Love Magazine, Fall/Winter 2010
Photographer: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

“Sweet Dreams” is a song by Beyoncé from her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008). Lyrically, the song describes a beautiful relationship, which the singer believes could be a dream. The song received widespread critical acclaim for its “spark”, “energy”, “dark tone” and “electropop sound”, with some critics noting its aural similarities to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. The music video was said to be a more “graphic” video than the others and its motive was said to be “take Sasha to the next level”, as stated by Beyoncé. Concerning the video, she also said: “It’s basically saying that this relationship is so wonderful that it scares me… is it a sweet dream or beautiful nightmare?” The golden robot suit that Knowles wears in the video, is to symbolize her Sasha Fierce alter-ego.

EXCUSEZ-MOI

Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell
Magazine: Vogue Paris, February 2008
Photographer: Mario Testino

BURNING UP

Madonna
Magazine: Pop Magazine, March 2002
Photographer: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott

DEAR NAOMI

Naomi Campbell
Magazine: W Magazine, June 2007
Photographer: Steven Klein

GENERATIONS OF LOVE

The campaign film for Miu Miu’s Fall/Winter 2010 collection stars models Lindsey Wixson, Siri Tollerød, Ginta Lapina, and Daphne Groeneveld, all decked out in the lust-have embellished dresses that have caused such a stir paired with kitten heels, patent bags and matching eye shadow. The girls laugh, play and throw shapes to some bass-heavy dance music backed by strobe lights. Some of the moves are pretty transparently Madonna-inspired – she was on set giving them tips. Apparently Madonna rocked up onto the set of the Miu Miu campaign shoot to meet photographers Mert Atlas and Marcus Pigott and take them for dinner. But she got distracted and ended up directing the video instead. Ginta Lapina told Love magazine, ‘We were supposed to shoot a video, so Madonna said she wanted to direct it. They said she could do it but they weren’t going to pay her and she started laughing. She put on her iPod and taught us moves and we shot the video for two hours.’

CANDY SHOP

Dolce and Gabbana Spring/Summer 2006
Photographer: Steven Klein
Models: Sam Saffman, Miro Moreira, Sam Webb and Blake Kuchta

GLITTER BALL

Few shows received as much buzz last season as Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer 2011 womenswear collection, which marked the former Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent designer’s return to womenswear. Unlike other A-list designers who have a slew of photographers at their runway shows, Ford did not allow a single photographer, other than Terry Richardson and his team of six, to snap a photo. The designer’s intimate presentation was host to only 100 guests, and took place in Ford’s Madison Avenue boutique, where Ford stocks his lip, fragrance, and men’s line. The collection was modeled by Ford’s muses: Lauren Hutton, Rachel Feinstein, Lou Doillon, Emmanuelle Seigneur, Julianne Moore, and Beyoncé. Appropriately, Vogue was granted exclusive access to the first images, and they’re just as glamorous as you’d expect!

Shot by Steven Meisel, the gorgeous, 70s-inspired collection is, according to Ford, not meant for the Gucci girl he left behind. “She’d be too trendy,” he has said.

When asked what drove the hyper-secret presentation, Ford told WWD:

“The way the system works now, you see the clothes, within an hour or so they’re online, the world sees them. They don’t get to a store for six months. The next week, young celebrity girls are wearing them on red carpets. They’re in every magazine. The customer is bored with those clothes by the time they get to the store. They’re overexposed, you’re tired of them.” Ford is certainly on to something. The fact that shows take place out of season is beginning to alarm a number of designers, including Donna Karan and Elie Tahari, who have voiced their complaints.

Ford has explained that his target woman is fashionable, aged 25 to 75, and that in seasons to come, he will exclusively be inviting editors to his presentations – no news reporters or photographers. “I don’t understand everyone’s need to see everything online the day after a show,” he said. Ford may be correct that instant gratification detracts from the clothing’s appeal, but there’s no denying that the curiosity of the fashion-obsessed is relentless.